Before jumping off the edge of the world and becoming a travel blogger I had years of experience running and managing a consumer electronics store. One of the first things I bought before leaving on our first 35-Day Road Trip was a Nikon AW100 travel camera because I wanted something that would be well suited for both travel and photography.
After owning 5-6 different digital cameras, and selling hundreds more, I went out looking for one camera that met all of my needs. It had to be well featured, take great pictures, be easy to use, and durable enough to withstand hard travel. I found one that meets all those requirements plus it’s been really fun to use on all of our adventures! Here’s a list of reasons why it just might be the right camera for you too in my Nikon AW100 Rewiew.
Great Pictures- Nikon AW100 Review
Being a Nikon, I knew I was buying arguably one of the best camera brands on the market. The combination of their high quality lenses and great sensors means that I get a high quality picture in most settings. The one place you will see this camera (and most non-SLR cameras) struggle is in extremely low light situations, but otherwise it’s been great.
For more in-depth comparisons and examples you can also see this review from PC-Mag
Ease of Use – Nikon AW100
I’ve seen a lot of people purchase a new camera right before a trip, only to spend hours trying to figure out how to use it, or worse, struggling to figure it out while on their trip and missing that perfect shot. The Nikon AW110
One of my favorites is the “food mode”. It really helps when I’m trying to shoot food pictures for my blog or to share on Pinterest. It allows you to easily adjust the color settings on the screen before taking the picture, so you always get the right color!
Well Featured For Rugged Travel – Nikon AW100
In addition to the great menu system, the Nikon AW100
My favorite feature though has to be the built-in GPS. Now, it’s not the fact that I get easily lost that makes it a great feature, it’s that it “geo-tags” all my pictures for me. What this means is when input my pictures on the computer, or upload them to Facebook, I can look at a map and it automatically put little pins everywhere I’ve been! It’s really cool to look at and a must have for a travel blogger!
Durability
This is where the NIkon AW100 really shines! This baby is waterproof, shock-proof, and freeze proof. This has allowed me to take it out to places I’d be afraid to take a regular camera and still get great photos. So far it’s been dropped in a river, taken a swim in the Gulf of Mexico, and taken some awesome underwater shots while in a pool. Not to mention the countless times I’ve dropped it and jostled it in my numerous backpacks while taking a hike or stroll through the city. The only feature I haven’t tested is the fact that it’s freeze proof, and I just might do that when we take our next trip to Alaska!
AW110 Updates!
Since we put together this last review Nikon has updated to the AW-11o with a couple of new features. First of all it’s now waterproof up to 18M (up from 10) and shockproof up to 2M, which makes it even more durable. Secondly Nikon has added an OLED screen to the AW110 which makes it brighter and easier to see true colors both underwater and in bright daylight. Thirdly, and most conveniently, Nikon has added a WiFi transmitter to the camera. This means that after a simple set up you can transfer pics wirelessly to your phone, tablets, and computer without the hassle and mess of using cables or card readers.
After owning this camera for over a year and using it almost every single day, I firmly stand behind everything I’ve said about this camera and strongly recommend it. Check out pricing for the camer on Amazon.com by clicking on the link here: Nikon COOLPIX AW110 Wi-Fi and Waterproof Digital Camera
**I feel it important to note I have not been compensated for this review in any fashion**
I have owned many Nikons over the years and loved every one. Each has been purchased for different uses and lately we have been looking for something waterproof and for a video camera. Thanks for the info. We will take your review into consideration when we do finally make the purchase
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I’ve owned a bunch of different brands an they all have their benefits. I’ve been really happy with the Nikon so far, and whenever I sold them, my customers were always happy with them. It’s funny, I never really expected to use the video feature, but the full-hd looks really good. I don’t think I’ll buy another all purpose camera that isn’t waterproof. Not so much because it’s great at the pool or underwater, but because I found myself using it in the rain and other situations where it was wet or dirty without worrying about it.
I wish I had seen this before. I just bought a Nikon Coolpix S9300… to use for travel instead of my Canon Rebel. I think I would have liked your recommendation better. Oh well, :-)
Maybe it’s because I haven’t been in the market for a camera lately, but this one looks awesome! I didn’t know they had built in GPS now – that’s really cool for the geo-tagging piece. Also, the standard waterproof is awesome.
Over the last 3-years the point and shoot market has really improved quite a bit. There are fewer choices now, because of all the cell phone cameras, but they are much more featured. You can get built in GPS at the 199 price range and I’ve seen this one for as low as 279. The waterproofing is by far my favorite feature. I’ve used it in the rain and so many other times without any worry. I love it.
Interesting. I saw a Sony version in 2006, but the picture quality was disappointing. I’ll look into this. We’ve recently had a couple of trips with terrible rain (Italy in particular).
For us it’s about so much more than the waterproofing. We are always out and about and I feel like I can carry my camera withme everywhere and I don’t worry about it. LIke I mentioned in the review, the only drawback is the short zoom levels 5X and the small aperture lens. It’s great in daylight or underwater situations but does struggle a bit in low light indoor situations.
Thanks, Kennin! This little cam is amazing really.